French pianist Jean-François Heisser had the good fortune to
hear Federico Mompou in 1974 at the Santiago de Compostela summer academy
when the composer, then 81, performed many of his own works. In the same
year Mompou recorded a slew of them - four CD’s worth. They are now
available on a Brilliant Classics box 6515, one I invariably cite whenever I
review Mompou, which is increasingly often, I’m glad to say.

Do you concentrate on a particular slice of Mompou’s writing,
or do you try to construct an attractive, contrasting single disc? Of late,
pianists have gone for the latter option, at least as far as my own direct
reviewing experience goes - the last was the exquisite recording by Volodos - but Heisser has other ideas and
concentrates on the four books of the Música Callada, composed
between 1959 and 1967. This provides a good concentrated focus and it also
allows one to gauge how well the pianist has immersed himself in
Mompou’s very particular lexicon.

Heisser has a good rounded tone and his chording is balanced, warm
but not over-pedalled. Like most exponents of this repertoire he remains a
more even-tempered interpreter than the composer, in respect of chording,
that is. Mompou is invariably the more angular in terms of phrasing but this
remains a constant of almost all pianists who espouse his music. What is
somewhat different here is Heisser’s approach to tempo, which does to
an extent set him apart from his contemporaries. He is often a touch faster
than Mompou - rather unusual - and this urgency is a valid approach. For
example in the Placide of the first book he takes a more direct
approach than even the composer and the result is that Mompou sounds the
more reflective, even nostalgic. In the Afflito e penoso it’s
Mompou who sounds the more eventful, Heisser the smoother and more
conventional. Mompou is always less interested in evenness of tone and
balanced chords; he is forever promoting leading voices that upset
conventional notions, whereas modern players tend to smooth over these
irregularities.

Heisser takes well-judged tempi and his instincts are acute, and
perceptive. He doesn’t follow Mompou down the path of his monastically
unbeautified lines, but he is more joyous than the composer in the
Allegretto of the second book, a rare example of élan in
Mompou’s four sets. Maximal contrasts in the Tranquillo are
provided by the composer - simple in the outer sections, vehement in the
central panel - where his left hand accenting brings indelible life, dispute
a technique that is sometimes pushed to its limits. Serious differences in
interpretative matters are rare between composer and Heisser. I’d cite
the Calme, the fifth of the third book, in which the French pianist
is much brisker, and lacks the plangency that I suspect Mompou wanted
pianists to find in it. The only other movement in which I felt a disconnect
between aesthetics was in the Moderato of the last book, where
Heisser’s much faster tempo has the effect of making the composer
sound unusually ponderous.

A word about presentation: the disc is housed in a book which
contains photographs by Chema Madoz. They are quite sculptural and
interested in forms and shapes. Patterns are augmented by such as a stark
photograph of a key. They are all in black and white. The most striking is a
faceless woman standing behind a table. In front of her a glass of red wine,
somewhat chalice-shaped, forms a pubic triangle against her white
under-dress.

At which point, back to the music. Heisser’s approach strikes
a most revealing and interesting note in contemporary performances of
Mompou. He doesn’t cultivate a flattering beauty of tone for its own
sake; he plays warmly and well but often briskly. Those used to more
horizontal performances - Volodos is a prime example - may find him a touch
curt. Mompou is curter still, in that sense, though inimitable in his own
music. There’s much to enjoy in Heisser’s well-recorded survey
of the music.